Journal

I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Tell me about it in the contents or leave a link to your blog. I'll be happy to come by and visit!

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Very little needlework is happening here this week. I actually wish I had an excuse to do more. I really want to be in my sewing room. Really.

I pulled this jumper from my giveaway pile on Monday. It was too short for Sarah. Upon further reflection, I decided to trim it with some butterflies and let her wear it to the funeral. She chose a bright pink cardigan to wear with it. Granddad would totally approve. Did you know that when your fingers are tired and your brain is mush, "butterflies" gets keyboarded "butterlifes"? I think that's what they will be henceforth.

My father-in-law was over 40 when my husband was born. It's extraordinary that we had him with us to see Sarah born when Mike was 43. Truly extraordinary. I'm trying really hard to hold tight to the gratitude I feel for that time. He was so integral to our lives, so tightly woven into the fabric of who we are.

But I'm sad for my little girls. I'm sad that they get far fewer years, far fewer memories. He was very frail in the past few years--to frail to play with Sarah on the floor the way he did with all the others. I'm trying to see the upside, the silver lining, in being the littlest. But today, I'm not having much success.

Thank you again for your kind words and your prayers. My family is very grateful.

In The Heart of My Home

I'm Elizabeth. I'm a happy wife and the mother of nine children. I grab grace with both hands and write to encourage myself and others to seize and nurture the joy of every day. I blog here with my daughter, Mary Beth, a wholehearted young lady on the brink of adulthood.